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CAMP ROTARY 

ELMORE COUNTY 
ALABAMA 



MAINTAINED BY THE ROTARY CLUB OF MONTGOMERY 
FOR THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF THAT CITY. 



AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE BOOK 

Issued by 
THE BOYS' WORK COMMITTEE 

and 

THE CAMP ROTARY COMMITTEE 

of 

MONTGOMERY ROTARY. 



Compiled by 
PETER A. BRANNON, Chairman 
Boys' Work Committee 



CAMP ROTARY 

ELMORE COUNTY 
ALABAMA 



MAINTAINED BY THE ROTARY CLUB OF MONTGOMERY 
FOR THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF THAT CITY. 



AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE BOOK 

Issued by 
THE BOYS WORK COMMITTEE 

and 

THE CAMP ROTARY COMMITTEE 

of 

MONTGOMERY ROTARY. 



Compiled by 
PETER A. BRANNON, Chairman 
Boys' Work Committee 



Montgomery, Ala. 

Brown Printing Company 

Printers and Binders 

1922 







-^ 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT 



The author has been assisted in the compilation of this booklet by 
several of the campers at the reservation. Most of the illustrations 
have been made by H. P. Tresslar, though James W. Kight furnish- 
ed his pictures for such selections as have been made. 

To Haygood Paterson I am indebted for assistance in identifying 
certain species of the plant life. To Mr. William Wood, and to my 
daughter, Carolyn Brannon, I am indebted for some bird records. 

The Boy Scouts, the Y. M. C. A., and the Girl Scouts of Montgom- 
ery during their camping periods have lost no opportunity to make 
the attractiveness of the site all the more impressive and I have had 
presented to me in the compilation of this little volume numerous 
records and illustrations for the gift of which I take this opportuni- 
ty to express my gratification. My fellow Committeemen have as- 
sisted in every possible manner, and to them my thanks are extended. 



LIBRARY OF CON^ws? 

RECEIVED 

0CT1819K 




Y. M. C. A. BOYS IN CAMP, 1921. 

This view shows the athletic field. One hundred yards to the rear 
of the large trees (center), is the dining hall, to the left under the 
hill the spring, to the right the pool. (View faces South.) 



THE LOCATION 



THE property is in the northeast quarter of the northwest 
quarter of sec. 33, T. 18, R. 19, on that forty known as the 
"Old Harwell Mill Forty.' It is 15 miles, as the crow flies, due 
north of the City of Montgomery, and is reached over a rug- 
ged, picturesque, winding road of 18 miles. The highway has not ap- 
proached within four miles of the site, but this is all the more desir- 
able as otherwise the privacy of the camp would be effected and it 
was not intended that the place have any features of a country club. 
The roadway from the Montgomery to Birmingham Highway via 
Wetumpka, is good for slow traveling for cars all way into camp. 

ABORIGINAL HISTORY 

The site is on the Indian trail from the "Falls of Wetumpka" to 
Coolome, which trail passes just below the forks of the Creek, % mile 
below the swimming pool. The trail led from the town of Odshiapofa, 
called by the traders "Hickory Ground," a compound word, signify- 
ing "Among the hickory trees." The village, located adjacent to the 
mound, and just inside the Rotary property, was a branch of this 
larger and later village. 

William Bartram, the great American Naturalist, passed here in 
December, 1775, when he visited the Alibamo town of Taskigi at the 
forks of the Coosa and Tallapoosa. A village of great antiquity, 
known as Pakana, is shown on the DeCranay map of 1733. These 
facts will not only prove interesting, but show a romantic connec- 
tion with the place. 

Among early references to the locality is one found in the diary of 
Col. Benjamin Hawkins, at that time principal agent for Indian Af- 
fairs south of the Ohio, dated December 21, 1796, he says: "I set 
out for Coolome, the land varigated flat hilly and mountainous, pass 
in four miles Pasabulluh, a beautiful flat % of a mile, X a creek 
large and fine for a mill, at ten miles arrive at Coolome, leaving the 
White Ground to the right." 

The Indian trail between Odshiapofa and Coolome followed the wa- 
tershed to cross Pasabulluh Creek, thence up a table land % of a mile 
wide, to again enter the lower grounds of that stream which flows 
into the Tallapoosa River from the northeast below the old rifle range. 

Indian towns generally give their name to the stream on which lo- 
cated, therefore, the aboriginal village adjacent to the mound on the 
property just outside the camp, was Pasabulluh, the name applying 
as well to the stream, called by them Pasabulluhatchee. (hatche be- 
ing "creek.") So far as is known we have only this one reference to 
the point by name. Maps as early as 1735 show a town located oppos- 
ite to the Yarbrough plantation, and on the present Gray Henderson 
property called Pakana. 



CAMP ROT \UY 




BOATING ON THE SWIMMING POOL 



THE CAMP 

The camp-site is in the northeast corner of the property immediate- 
ly below the line, on a plateau overlooking Passahulluh Creek. It 
occupies three levels of an altitude considerably higher than the sur- 
rounding country and is drained by two streams. 

The mess hall fronts the south, is a building of 100 feet by 60 feet 
under one roof, contains a dining room, the kitchen, an open pavillion 
at the end of which is a large fireplace made to accommodate six 
foot logs, and an office. It is screened throughout. It is so con- 
structed that even during the winter season it is comfortable, but the 
sides of the dining room are all open except for intervening screens. 

The spring furnishing the drinking water for the camp is two hun- 
dred feet west and one hundred feet below the kitchen. It is the 
same spring used by the original settler when lie entered the land 1)1 
years ago. A large terra cotta pipe has been sunk into the spring, 
the water flowing over this to empty into a small stream passing 
fifty feel west of, and below, the soring, and emptying into the larger 
creek U of a mile below. The water has been bacteriologically ex- 
amined. 

The tent quarters for tampers are arranged in a large crescent, 
three hundred feet from end to end, just in the edge of a pine grove 
which skirts a slight decline off this upper plateau, and these quarters 
overlook a fifteen acre parade ground some 40 feet above the water's 
edge in the stream below. Just back of this pine grove in front of 
the dining hall, is a row of three large water oaks. All ai'e handsome 
specimens of this ti - ee but one is especially so. The old homestead 
faced south and these trees were planted prior to 1840 to shade the 
yard of the place. 



ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA 



The swimming pool is formed by an eight foot high dam thrown 
across the creek just in front of the camp site. This dam forms a 
pool from two to eight feet deep about 50 feet wide, 300 feet long 
The water up stream for nearly a quarter of a mile is suitable for 
boating in light draught canoes. The pool is provided with spring 
boards, a diving platform, a diving tower, and ring swings Water 
gates have been provided for the dam, and the water is let out of the 
pool periodically for the purpose of carrying away any excess of sand 
or trash which may have been washed in by the stream, though the 
water flows over the top of the dam at all times, thus producing 
fresh water. While the pool is largely in the shade, enough sun- 
shine penetrates through the trees to sufficiently temper the water 
to make it as comfortable as flowing streams generally are. 

The altitude as shown by the U. S. Geological survey is 500 feet. It 
occupies a pocket in the foothills which sufficiently protect it, there- 
by making it comfortable even for winter camping, while during the 
summer time it is fanned by the northern and western breezes to the 
■extent that there is never an uncomfortable moment. 

There are no mosquitoes. 




GIRL SCOUTS IN CAMP, 1922. 

Sixty Girl Scouts spent 2 weeks at Camp Rotary in July of this 
seasons. Since opened there have been more than 500 boys and girls 
camped at Rotary. Two weeks periods have been allowed the Boy 
Scouts, the Y. M. C. A., the Girl Scouts, and the under privileged 
boys of Montgomei-y. 



CAMP ROTARY 



SUPERVISION 

The direct control of the camp is vested in the "Camp Rotary Com- 
mittee," who are designated by the legal transfer as Trustees of the 
property. This Committee, composed of Messers Cramton, Douville, 
.Marsh net z, May and Paterson, appointed by President Pepperman to 
effect the sale, was added to by President Paterson by the naming of 
Messrs. Bear and Loeb. President Jenkins named a new committee 
as follows: Cramton, Marshuetz, Paterson, (W. B.) Ray, Bear and 
Douville. 

HISTORY OF THE SITE 

The north half of the northwest quarter of the section was patent- 
ed by the U. S. Government, May 20, 1831, to Samuel Townsend. This 
date is prior to the Creek Land Cession of 1832, but as the location 
is south of the Indian Boundary line, made by the agreement of Au- 
gust 27, 1814, the government would patent direct to the settler rath- 
er than through the assignment to the Indian head of family. While 
there are no records to substantiate this fact, one John Townsend, an 
Englishman and Indian trader, was settled on the Tallapoosa River, 
only a few miles east of here, some years prior to 1700, and it is 
reasonable to assume him as an ancestor of this Samuel Townsend. 

At a meeting of the club held May 4th, 1921, the Boys Work Com- 
mittee by permission of President Maxie Pepperman, presented the 
proposition of buying a tract of land in Elmore County, which had 
been offered by the owner, Mr. D. T. Harwell, as a camp site for the 
boys of Montgomery. In less than 10 minutes, practically $3,000 was 
subscribed and the purchase was immediately made of the already 
selected spot. 

This sum was expended in the purchase of the land, the building of 
the dam, the construction of the roadway, the erection of the mess- 
hall the purchase of a range, cots, etc. The investment as it now 
stands is something less than $3,500. 

SELECTION 

Harry E. Hoppen, Scout Executive, member of the Club, being on 
the lookout for a camping place for his Boy Scouts, had the "old Har- 
well place" referred to him by Mr. George Graff, a traveling -.nan 
of Montgomery. He immediately went there, was favorably im- 
pressed, and at once suggested the place to Fred Cramton, Lawrence 
Bear, and members of the Boys' Work Committee of Rotary. The 
eventual selection of the site, its improvement and its present superb 
condition, are largely due to the efforts of these two men — Mr. Cram- 
ton and Mr. Bear. 

Mr. Hoppen carried his Boy Scouts to camp before even the din- 
ing hall was finished and these boys, together with the larger number 
of V. M. C. A. campers who followed immediately behind them, clear- 
ed up the gi-ound and did much to put in shape the condition of the 
place. 



ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA 



The Y. M. C. A. of Montgomery, through Secretary James Kight, 
has been liberal to a marked degree and has expended quite a sum 
in improving the road to Camp and adding other comfortable features. 

PLANT LIFE 

The reserve is in the geographical center of the Eutaw Belt, of the 
Great Central Pine Belt, of the Coastal Plain of the state. It is 
more properly speaking in the short-leaf pine region. This tree dom- 
inates all over the reservation, but as two small streams flow entire- 
ly through the property, the course of vegetation peculiar to the rich 




THE "GRAND CANYON" 
This view shows the entrance to a series of ravines one fourth mile 
west of the camp-site. The many colored walls show a varied pic- 
ture of rocky encrustations, and outcropping of iron and other min- 
erals. 



soil adjacent, is also to be found. Along the rocky banks of Passa- 
bulluh Creek grow handsome specimens of beech, birch, black gum, 
sweet gum, poplar, willow, bay, sycamore, and on the hillsides, the 
silver maple, dog wood, hickory, and the oaks assume interesting' pro- 
portions. 

Every tree credited by the Alabama Geological Survey to this re- 
gion, grows within the camp, with the possible exception of the long 



Ill 



CAMP ROTARY 



leaf pine. The cucumber tree (magnolia virginiana), not shown in 
their lis! is to be found here. The larger proportion of the growth on 
the property is evergreen. 

While the early spring season is not propitious in this section for 
camping, the reservation is beautiful at this season of the year and its 
attractiveness is not exceeded by any section of the State. The flow- 
ering dogwood is found in practically every section of the locality, ex- 
cept ing of course that part formerly under cultivation. The Cercis 
(canadensis or redbud is in quantities along the creek. The sweet 



* 

&% k«g * ' ,'■•■ 

M' ;%" ^f§8 


*_ 4, 




MIS 




H 



UNDER THE BIG WATER OAKS 

They all average more 



These trees were set out here early in 1840 
than four feet in diameter. 



shrub, May apple, iris, and those flowering plants and shrubs pe- 
culiar to the sand country of the central part of the state are pe- 
culiarly attractive in this soil which is enriched by the phosphate 
salts which the marl rocks of the stream bed feeds to the soil. 

The gums, oaks, beech, and elms, with their highly colored foliage, 
lend to the fall season the attractiveness which the flowers and the 
fresh green leaves give to the spring, but the dead of winter is hard- 



ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA 



11 



ly less attractive for the short leaf pine, growing everywhere, is al- 
ways green and the smilax of several varieties together with the bays 
and willows growing in the protected bottoms keep enough of the 
flora green to accentuate the beauty of the site. 

The list of trees and larger shrubs positively indentify as growing 
within the property of the Rotary Club is: 



Pinus palustris — Long leaf pine. 

Pinus taeda — Short leaf pine. 

Pinus echinata — Short leaf pine. 

Pinus glabra — Spruce pine. 

Taxodium distichum — Cypress. 

Juniperus virginiana — Cedar. 

Hicoria aquatica — Hickory. 

Hicoria alba — Hickory. 

Salix nigra — Willow. 

Betula nigra — Birch. 

Fagus grandifolia — Beech. 

Quercus alba — White oak. 

Quercus stellata — Post oak. 

Quercus marylandica — Black- 
jack oak. 

Quercus nigra — Water oak. 

Quercus laurifolia — Water oak. 

Quercus phellos — Willow oak. 

Ulmus alata — Elm. 

Moms rubra — Mulberry. 

Magnolia virginiana — Cucumber 
tree. 

Magnolia glauca — Bay. 

Liriodendron tulipifera — Poplar. 

Liquidamber styraciflua — Sweet 
gum. 

Sassafras variifolium — Sassa- 
fras 

Platanus occidentalis — Sycamore 

Ilex opaca — Holly. 

Acer saccharinum — Silver maple. 

Acer rubram — Red maple. 

Cornus florida — Dogwood. 

Nyssa biflora — Blackgum. 



Nyssa uniflora — Tupelo gum. 

Diospyrus virginiana — Persim- 
mon. 

Cercis canadensis — Red bud, 

Sweet shrub. 

Smilax auriculata — Bamboo bri- 
er. 

Smilax bona-nix — Bamboo brier. 

Smilax lanceolata — Sweet scent- 
ed smilax. 

Azalea arborescens — Sweet Aza- 
lea. 

Rhodendron catawbiense — Aza- 
lea. 

Aesculus pavia — Buckeye. 
i Prunus serotina — Wild cherry. 

Prunus umbellata — Sloe. 

Prunus angustifolia — Chickasaw 
plum. 

Prunus americana — Red plum. 

Crataegus (several varieties). 

Gleditsia triacanthos — Honey 
locust. 

Carpinus caroliniana — Iron 
Wood. 

Celtis occidentalis — Hackberry. 

Castanea pumila — Chinqua pin. 

Ostrya virginiana — Hop horn- 
beam. 

Kalmia latifolia — Mountain lau- 
rel. 

(The nomenclature here used 
is that from Mohr's Plant Life 
of Alabama, 1901.) 



FLOWERS 

In the low crevices between the rock embankments on the sides ot 
the stream, grows the Sanguinaria canadensis, blood root; Podophyl- 
lum Peltatum, Mandrake; Azalea, erroneously locally called wild 
honeysuckle; several of the flag lillies; trumpet honeysuckle; as well 
as several species of wood violets. Higher up from the water's edge 
and on the more elevated places, the flowering dogwood (Cornus flor- 
ida), the Cercis, or redbud; the mountain laurel, the Virginia Creeper, 
and numerous ornamental shrubs and small trees grow prolifically. 
The wild hydrangea is in full bloom as late as the middle of July. 



1" 



CAMP ROTARY 



The character of the soil is such that those plants thriving best in 
a loose sandy soil, have a chance to perfect a growth which they could 
not in a more closely compact ground. The Azalea reaches 8 feet 
high on the banks of the swimming pool. Both varieties of the gold- 
en rod, numerous species of the compositae family, and two species of 
the sand cactus, grow here. 

HARDWOODS 

Several varieties of the hickory nut family grow here, and there 
are one or two apparently escaped from cultivation walnuts. The 
American walnut, commonly called the black walnut, is found in a 
number of places over the site, and the scalybark hickory in several 




THE CREEK 

cases is found 75 to 100 feet high. On the west of the property are 
several hardwood trees. 



SOME NOTABLE TREES ON THE RESERVATION 

The large water oaks shading the grounds in front of the mess 
hall are about 75 years old, having been planted at the time of the 
erection of the homestead of the original Mr. Harwell. The largest, 
more than 5 feet in diameter, and with a limb spread of considerably 
more than 100 feet circumference, is one of the handsomest water 
oaks in this central section of Alabama. These three trees occupy the 
brow of that little plateau overlooking the parade ground. Under 
this shade lie the remains of the original members of the old family, 
early settled here. A few specimens of small long leaf pine trees 
only a few years old, are found. However, there are quite a few large 
short leaf pines, probably three or four thousand young specimens of 
this variety. 



ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA 



13 



Two very attractive cedars of those originally growing here are to 
be seen in the upper camp grounds and across the creek are quite a 
number of smaller specimens. These two large trees appear to be 
about one hundred years old. 

Several specimens of the pride of China, that is the imported china- 
berry, are found to the right of the old house site. These trees are 
not native, but are common to all old resident sites throughout the 
State. 

The beech along the stream west of the swimming pool and the 
ironwood trees further down, are typical of rich bottoms, in this cli- 
mate. 




THE POOL. 

One cucumber tree, that very interesting member of the magnolia 
family, is found shading the spring, which supplies the drinking wa- 
ter. 



BIRD LIFE 

The site is in the Lower Austrial Faunal Life Zone of America, and 
the distribution of birds and mammals is aptly peculiar to that re- 
gion. Because of the diversity of conditions on and immediately sur- 
rounding the locality, bird life is all the more attractive. 

The remoteness of the place from the thickly settled sections, and 
at the same time the proximity to the homes of the small farms, 
which are to the south and east of the locality, attracts those who 
frequent the swamps and more dense growths, as well as those birds 
who court the society of man. Within the property lines are sec- 
tions of open cultivated country (that is, it was formerly under cul- 
tivation, prior to the present ownership), some swamp country, and 



' i CAMP ROTARY 



much nt' a rocky, hilly, rolling nature. On the western line the ra- 
vine, locally known as "the canyon," presents a section attractive to 
such birds as the swallows. 

When camping here one is immediately attracted with a peculiar 
feature. The house wrens use the tent ropes with a freedom not 
characterized, and it is no uncommon thing to see several around the 
tents all day. During the entire summer camping period the Chuck- 
Wills-Widow is heard from early sun-down to day-break the next 
morning. The conditions are propitious for its nesting here, and no 
doubt they are breeding on the site. There is a record of the Whip- 
Poor-Will, but as it is of a July date, I cannot positively vouch for 
this. I have, however, recorded the bull-bat here on July 8. 

The large number of pines surrounding the camp site attract a 
number of birds which frequent these trees, notably: certain of the 
warblers, the nuthatch, the sapsucker, the little wood-pecker, and I 
have a record of redeyed vireo of a July date. So far as official re- 
cords go, the robin did not nest in Montgomery County, until the 
Spring of 1921. On the morning of July 9, 1922, I observed the fe- 
male at my tent flap, therefore, I presume the bird undoubtedly nest- 
ed here during the present season. 

The kingfisher frequents the little stream south of the swimming 
pool, but as it is not large enough for fish of any appreciable size, 
I see no other reason than for the purpose of nesting in the rugged 
rock crevises overlooking it. The volume of water flowing down the 
stream is not very considerable, though as early as 1796, a traveler 
makes the statement that it was large enough for a mill. 

Of course there are not situations applicable for the nesting of 
water birds, as there is no swamp country except some low ground 
near the lower end of the property, but even here, the bed of the 
stream is of yellow gravel and sand, and the banks are lined with a 
heavy growth of alder. There are no sloughs or swamp grasses which 
would be suitable for snipe, woodcock, and such birds as these. 

The birds already identified and recorded during the past two seas- 
ons, occurring here are: 

( ardinal Cardinal is cardinalis cardinnlis 

Blue jay Cyanocitta cristata florincola 

Bluebird Sialia sialis sialis 

Summer Tanager Piranga rubra rubra 

Redeyed Vireo Vireosylva olivacea 

Chuck- Wills- Widow Antrostomus carolinensis 

Brownheaded Nuthatch Sitta pusilla. 

Guinea Sapsucker Droyobates pubescens pubescens. 

1 >owny Woodpecker Dryobates pubescens medianus 

Meadowlark Sturnella magna magna. 

Wood thrush Hylocichla mustelina. 

House Wren Troglodytes aedon aedon. 

Bull-Bat Chordeiles virginianus virginianus. 

\\ hip-Poor-Will Antrostomus vociferus vociferus 

Barred Owl Strix varia varia 

Screech Owl Otus asio asio. 

Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon. 



ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA 15 



Quail (Bob White) Colinus virginianus virginanus 

Mourning Dove Zenaidura macroura carolinensis. 

^°^ be —- Sayoris phoebe 

Mocking Bird Mimus polyglottos polyglottos. 

Myrtle Warbler Dendroica coronata. 

Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla pusilla 

Grasshopper Sparrow Ammodranus savannarum australis. 

Redheaded Woodpecker Melanerpes erythrocephalus. 

Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus americanus. 

* eer y Hylocichla fuscescens fuscescens 

Chimney Swift Chaetura pelaglca 

Pine Warbler Dendroica vigorsi vigorsi 

Robin.._ Planesticus migratorius migratorius. 

These records are for the camping season and do not apply for the 
entire year as no doubt many immigrants are here during the winter/ 
months when the camp is closed. 




l6 CAMP ROTARY 



MONTGOMERY ROTARY 



J. Mike Jenkins, .Jr., President. 
Thomas H. Edward, Vice-President. 
Wiliam A. Bellingrath. Emile J. Meyer, Jr. 

Fred J. Gramton. J- Haygood Paterson. 

Thomas H. Edwards. Edward O. Schiffling. 

J. Mike Jenkins. Jr. Directors. 

BOYS' WORK COMMITTEE. 

Peter A. Brannon, Chairman. 
Paul S. Mertins. R. F. Hudson. 

James W. Right. Duncan May. 

Vernon Merritt. 

CAMP ROTARY COMMITTEE. 

Fred J. Cramton, Chair num. 

Leo Marshuetz, Secretary. 

William B. Paterson. T. Lawrence Bear. 

C. L. Ray. Harry E. Douville. 

Stanhope E. Elmore,, Sergeant-at-Arm*. 
William F. Black, Secretary. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



002 908 090 2 U 



. 



